PALM DESERT — A partnership of Coachella Valley schools and civic partners have announced the Ninth Annual KidWind Regional Competition set for Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019.

Area students will compete in the regional KidWind event scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (teams begin arriving for check-in at 8 a.m.) at Desert Hot Springs High School, 65850 Pierson Boulevard, Desert Hot Springs.

Approximately 130 students from area middle and high schools will build and demonstrate their working wind turbine models. The student projects will be judged by local industry partners and community leaders, including representatives from MSA Consulting, College of the Desert, OneFuture Coachella Valley and Riverside County EDA/Workforce.

This year’s competition is jointly sponsored by Palm Springs Unified School District, College of the Desert, OneFuture Coachella Valley, and SMaRT Education. This is the ninth annual competition organized by the partnership. Desert Hot Springs High School will host this year’s event and will be facilitated by Tim Smyth and Casey Heiser.

The KidWind events in this region were started by the California Regional Consortium for Engineering Advances in Technical Education (CREATE) office at College of the Canyons through funding by the National Science Foundation, in partnership with the OneFuture Coachella Valley Advanced Technology Industry Council. College of the Desert has sponsored the Coachella Valley event since its inception, and is funding the 2019 event through their Strong Workforce initiative.

The KidWind program helps teachers learn about wind energy technology, receive curriculum and materials for integrating wind energy instruction into their classes, and form student teams for a regional competition.

KidWind was started by a sixth-grade California science teacher, Michael Arquin, who was not satisfied with the products available to teach children about wind energy science. KidWind creates affordable classroom-ready materials and free downloadable print materials to support teachers and students all over the world. For those who do not have the financial ability to purchase the materials, they also offer a giveaway program. Since founding the company in 2004, he has developed and is selling wind energy kits online. Click here.

OneFuture Coachella Valley convenes local business, civic, and education partners to implement the Regional Plan for College and Career Success, which focuses on preparing all students for college, career, and life. This newly independent entity provides students with meaningful career explorations, work experience, and scholarships, as well as other supports for college success. A key ingredient in this approach is involvement of the region’s employers, ensuring that student preparation is aligned with local workforce needs. For more information, click here. 

Established in 1958, College of the Desert, located in Palm Desert, is an accredited community college serving eastern Riverside County, California. The College leads the region in providing quality, higher education, technical training and lifelong learning opportunities, in response to the dynamic needs of our diverse community. The College serves more than 18,000 credit students and 1,000 non-credit students each year and is the number one source of transfer students to California State University, San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus. For more information, click here.

 

 

Image Sources

  • KidWind: Pixaby